MY INTELLECTUAL YEAR IN VIETNAM

Not every soldier toted a weapon while serving in Vietnam. I suppose my weapon was my brain. At near age 24, a college degree, and a patriotic mom, I hosted the right recipe for successes in  uniform.






Noted Vietnam author Hamilton Gregory of McNamara's Folly advises me of my GT Score of 132 as being the top of the heap. Consequently, my service and achievements steered me into the U..S. Army Medical Corps with good fortune . My attempt to become a chaplain's assistant failed. This was a blessing in disguise.






Military medical training at Fort Sam Houston,TX was "back to college." I recognized this and sent my handwritten letter to LBJ at the White House on 17 September, 1966. Major General A.O. Connor, Chief of Personnel Operations, responded back to me in an October 4, 1966 communication:


"The President has asked me to thank you for your letter to him conveying your appreciation for the training and schooling you are receiving while in the Armed Forces." General Connor was correct:




"Letters of this nature are quite a rarity...."




 I was trained to x-ray human bones , police dogs and teeth hand developiong all three in a tiny dark room with a red lamp. It was lonely.


I learnedthe ropes and maneuvered accordingly achieving Soldier-of-the Month of the 68th Medical Group. I did not win the 44th Medical Brigade SOM. My heart throbbed when asked what I thought of the US involvement in Vietnam. I lied.






Today, in the Sunday New York Times,

is a centerfold spread of Karl Malante's story. The title is "THE WAR THAT KILLED THE TRUST." I don't know if I agree with this title! The article says "some 65 percent of Americans are under 45 and so unable to even remember the war."


I recently asked my beautiful little granddaughter, Lily, "Do you know where Vietnam is?"  She responded "Egypt?"


Maybe only Vietnam veterans and their families hold a clue on what Vietnam was and is about? I am a student of some of the French Indochinese - American armed conflicts. The French and Americans never got Ho Chi Min's message "Just leave us alone!"




The acculturation and Vietnamization  into our American souls is most diminishing. The behemoth of China thwarts most memories of a once French-Indochina.  I cannot help of think of Vietnam daily. My return trip to Ho Chi Minh City in November of 1998 and attendant color photographs allows me to think of Vietnam forever like our postage stamps. Forever is a long time you know!